When you are searching for available homes, be sure to use Homes Prospector at www.roykelley.com for the most current information on available properties. This is a service of MRIS, our regional multiple listing service.

As you search for homes on line, many properties will appear to be attractive because of their lower prices. Home buyers and their agents need to understand when they are considering short sale listings. These are the properties that require lender approval for a sale because the proceeds will not cover the outstanding mortgage loan balance. Many of these are pre-foreclosure situations.

Why do buyer agents and their clients need to be careful with short sale listings? It a fact that many of these properties never reach settlement. Some go to foreclosure and some are withdrawn as the marketing efforts fail. We see many active listings, including many under contract, being sold at foreclosure auctions.

Buyers should check the mortgage status on any property being considered. If a foreclosure is pending, extra caution should be taken because a contract will be voided if the home is sold at a trustee sale at the court house entrance. Agents have access to foreclosure information on Matrix and individuals as well as agents can use www.marylandlandrec.net and other resources to check on the outstanding mortgage loans.

Check to determine what party will actually handle the negotiation of the short sale. And check the documentation of the home seller to determine if they have prepared all of the exhibits that will be required for the lender review of any offers. We recommend Village Settlements and their short sale negotiation services to our seller clients. There are others that also provide these professional services with no front end fees to the sellers. Many short sale packages end up being over 100 pages long, so great attention to detail and very close follow up efforts are needed for successful transactions.

When you find a home seller that has not prepared the required documentation of if the property is scheduled for a trustee sale, you may wish to move on to another property.

Many of our buyer clients have discovered that better results are obtained when the focus on lender owned foreclosures rather that potential short sales.

We represent home buyers as their exclusive agents in the Maryland suburbs of Washington DC and nearby counties. roykelley@mris.com

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